


Rose Colored Waters

by poisonedapple



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Art by totallygonnawingit, Critical Role Bang, Drinking, Gen, Hot Springs & Onsen, girl talk, slumber party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 03:50:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8650336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonedapple/pseuds/poisonedapple
Summary: Vex, Keyleth, and Pike spend the night in the mansion together after the events of episodes 68/69, relaxing in the bath, getting stupid drunk, and not talking about deadly dragons, death, and stupid boys.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the Critical Role Reverse Bang 2016.
> 
> Gorgeous artwork by totallygonnawingit.tumblr.com/
> 
> My tumblr is merrygloom.
> 
> Major spoilers for episode 68/69.

“Trinket, you'll watch my brother for me won't you? Make sure he doesn't get himself into trouble or make some?” Trinket's face is between Vex's hands, as she squishes his cheeks together affectionately.

_Yes_ , Trinket tells Vex feels the familiar thrill at talking with Trinket and having him respond back to her. She presses a kiss to his head before letting him go and Vex watches him lumber out the door, on a mission to find Vax. Vex smiles as Pike and Keyleth chatter in excitement behind her, Scanlan grinning beside them.

Scanlan had given just the three of them the rare offer of free reign of his mansion for the night to relax. They'd been reluctant to accept the offer at first, but Scanlan insisted his offer was entirely genuine. Pike had reminded them all that Scanlan wasn't the only one to be worried about and Vax had shrugged sheepishly, saying “Hey! I'm a man of the cloth now!” before skulking off to who knew where as they laughed at the memory of Pike catching him in the act of trying to peek on her and stomped on his foot so hard it left him limping.

The rest of them were trying to pretend the events of the past twenty four hours hadn't ever happened, but Vax had that look in his eyes that suggested he wanted to pull someone aside and talk about what they'd just gone through. It'd happen eventually, but Vex and the rest were going to avoid it with all they had for as long as was possible. Much as Vex loved her brother, she didn't want to think about everything they'd almost just lost much less talk about it as her brother surely would want to.

Vex just wanted them to go back to the way things had been and forget Percy had ever died, same as she sometimes wished her brother would have done with her own and as had been done for Grog's deaths.

“Vex!” Keyleth exclaims, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “You coming with?” Scanlan must have made the door when her back had been turned, because Pike and Keyleth are already inside it and waiting for her at the threshold with expectant faces.

“Yeah, you go on ahead though,” Vex tells them. “I'll catch up with you. I want to talk with this one first.” She jerks her thumb at Scanlan and he makes a 'Who me?' face.

“You're sure?” Pike asks. “We can wait.”

“Yeah, go get whatever we're doing first set up.” Vex smiles and watches as Pike and Keyleth look to each other and shrug before telling her to not take too long and shut the door after themselves.

Vex turns to Scanlan, but he speaks before she can get a word in.

“Only women can get into the mansion tonight, all female servants as usual despite your guy's insistence to the contrary, and even then only the ones that belong in here tonight. Not even your bear has permission tonight, so it's a good thing you sent him off,” Scanlan promises with a wide smile, but it's _Scanlan_ and that belies anything he could ever say because Vex knows he could promise almost anything and make her believe it if she wasn't cautious enough. “ _I_ can't even see the door to get inside. I've given the servants the strictest orders to keep you ladies happy and to adjust the mansion to your specifications, just for tonight.”

Vex squints at Scanlan, trying to suss out any falsehood in his claims. Vex doesn't, but that hadn't been what she'd wanted to talk about. “Whatever,” She huffs, crossing her arms. “But if I go in there and the bath is full of rotisserie chicken or if I even see a single chicken, Scanlan, I swear….,”She'd long since suspected that his mansion is entirely capable of making more than just chicken for meals, that Scanlan thought it was a funny joke. Vex tolerated it because the mansion was his and it was convenient enough that it gave them anything to eat.

Regardless, Scanlan waves off her worries, “No chicken on the menu of course. Though I can't promise there won't be any chicken paraphernalia.”

Vex feels her face twitch in distaste, crossing her arms a little tighter. She sighs. “Scanlan, I don't know wh-,”

“Listen…” His voice is subdued. “You did good. All three of you. You brought him back. I don't… I don't know that he would have wanted to, if it wasn't you three that called him back to us.” Scanlan frowns then, as though realizing something and mutters under his breath,“That dog! I never suspected him, but maybe that's how he got all the girls wrapped around his finger…,”

Vex shrugs uncomfortably, ignoring his mutterings. “Any of us could have done it, could have brought him back.” Vex isn't sure who else among them had even made offerings for her when she had died beyond her brother's deal with the Raven Queen – but she's certain it hardly mattered. There hadn't been a tear-stained face among the ones that she woke to find peering anxiously at her that she didn't love and trust – even if she hadn't quite trusted Kashaw before that moment, she had trusted him then. Percy surely felt the same as she did and certainly it would be the same for any of them, and had been for Pike and Grog before as well.

Scanlan gives her a wry smile. “No, no. I'll always be the guy that tossed his gun in acid. Vax… well, he's _your_ brother. And Grog, well… he's Grog, much as we love that adorable meathead. But for our Percy, it could only be the best of us – you three.”

“He thanked you for it, though. In his… letter. I'm sure he's always been grateful for that, his pride just kept him from saying it. Well that and spite… And I hardly see what Vax being my brother has to do with anything. We're all family here,” Vex says with conviction.

“But I'll still always be the guy that did it. And that's alright with me, because he's here with us and we'll all be fine if we stay together.” Scanlan smiles then and opens the door and sweeps his arms for her to go inside. “You ladies enjoy yourselves, tonight.”

Vex knows when she is being dismissed and her curiosity sated for the moment, she steps forward and turns back to lean against the door frame. “And what have you boy's got planned? You're not even going to enjoy yourself in other parts of your own mansion?”

“Dunno… Maybe I'll draw on Grog's face while he is sleeping and blame it on Vax.” Scanlan's teeth are bright and gleaming when he grins. “Or perhaps I'll bother some cooks to cook up something with a certain spice, seeing as I paid dearly for it… Maybe I'll just take a shit and look at the love of my life hustle some guys at cards. I'll see how the evening takes me."

Vex shakes her head at him with a fond smile and steps back through the door, shutting it behind her.

The moment Vex steps inside, Keyleth's voice sounds from her earring, “Vex? Vex? You here yet Vex? Can you hear me now Vex?”

“Yes, Keyleth, I'm here now,” Vex interrupts when Keyleth shows no sign of stopping. “I'll be right in – you guys are in the hot spring, yeah?”

“Yeah, we haven't gotten in yet though – Pike's only just gotten all of her armor off. I've been helping!”

“She's been calling your name over the earring the entire time,” Pike's voice pipes in, sounding mostly affectionate if not just a touch peevish. Vex can only imagine what a test of patience Keyleth's badgering had to have been, to have pestered even Pike just a tad. “I'm glad you're finally joining us.”

Vex laughs as she makes her way down, pulling off her furs and undoing her buckles and letting her outer layers fall off behind her. “Be a dear and wash my clothes and then fold them up and bring them to me? Thank you!” she calls behind her and several of the mansion's servants, all female, begin to trail after her, picking her discarded clothes up from the floor. She feels a bit bad for treating them like that but they don't seem sentient enough to mind even Grog's attacks on them, so she doubts they care much about her callous behavior.

Vex is down to her undergarments, broom, and bows by the time she gets to the changing room and the pile in the servant's arms tall enough to block their faces.

Pike's undoing her braids, threading her fingers through her hair plait by plait to pull the braids apart gently. Keyleth is only just starting to undo her own clothes, long dress sliding to the floor, revealing her bare back to Vex as she leaned over to pick up her dress and her hair fell to the side. Pike had healed them up before their bar visit, healing them up better than potions or _Healing Words_ ever could, their skin knitted back up over scratches and gouges and bruises faded. However, Keyleth had been insistent on keep some scars from Kynan stabbing her in the back. Keyleth hadn't explained why, but only because she hadn't had to for them to understand. Her new scars were swollen white lines, as healed as they ever would be unless Pike insisted on healing them away against Keyleth's wishes or worse scars replaced them.

The gold of Keyleth's new ring gleamed on her finger even as Keyleth removed everything else and wrapped a towel around herself. The dress in Keyleth's hands was bloody, dirty, and torn, as were Vex's clothes Vex realized. They'd had time already to at least scrub the blood and muck from their bodies and hair, before they'd all gone out for drinks (not last night – they had lain in their filth in a huddle, too much in despair to think of being clean), but they hadn't the opportunity for their clothes.

“Do Keyleth's clothes too!” Vex prompts another servant with empty arms. At Keyleth's questioning look, as the servant tugs the dress from Keyleth's hands and gathers the rest of her clothes, Vex explains, “I'm having the servants wash and mend our clothes for the night. We'll get them back, good as new.”

“Oh!” Keyleth says, “That's a good idea. Thanks guys!” The servants don't really respond, but they do take Pike's clothes and armor as well without even being instructed so Vex suspects that's them being appreciative of the gratitude.

“Cool! I won't have to wake up early to shine up my armor then,” Pike says. Her arms are pale and bare – Pike's taken off her gauntlets this time. Her eyes are bright and cheerful as she lets her hair loose, but there are dark circles underneath them that suggest she's just as exhausted as the rest of them. Of course she is. Every time they come back to Whitestone, Vex is dismayed to find how much more everyone's spirits have waned. Vex has started to think the people Vox Machina leave behind have the harder job. Vox Machina might be risking their lives for Vestiges and searching for every scrap to help them defeat the Conclave, but _waiting_ in one place is a sinking pit of dread and despair.

“I'll race you to the hot spring!” Pike shouts over her shoulder, already half way out of the room.

Vex snorts and watches Keyleth follows pursuit on Pike's heels, taking her time to fully undress and to wrap her towel securely around her chest.

The stone floor is unnaturally warm beneath her bare feet, Vex thinks when she makes her own way to the hot spring. When she gets there, Keyleth and Pike stand together in front of a door.

“Hey, this door wasn't here before!” says Pike and there's the creak of the door opening as it's pushed open. “Oh! It's like… a closet full of wine!”

“Tell me it isn't chicken wine,” Vex grouses, leaving Keyleth and Pike to investigate the wine and sitting at the edge shallow end of hot spring instead and sticks her legs in. She's glad there'll be wine though.

“It… is,” Keyleth says in bafflement and Vex's lip curls in disgust – she is going to kill Scanlan. “Says 'Chicken Wine' on all of the labels.”

“Here, let me see that,” Pike requests. After a moment, Pike says, “It's normal wine, despite the label! This one tastes great actually – very smooth.”

“I wonder if they're different kinds of wine in here,” muses Keyleth. “Maybe there's a Chicken Shiraz in here. I hope there is.”

Vex laughs. “Well bring out a couple bottles then so we can drink and relax finally.”

Pike brings back a bottle but Keyleth stays behind a while to hunt down her Shiraz and when she does she brandishes the bottle triumphantly.

Three low sighs escape them as they ease themselves into the water finally, after poring them all a glass of Keyleth's Chicken Wine Shiraz.

“This is the life,” Keyleth hisses in pleasure. Vex and Pike both moan in agreement.

Pike's loose hair, usually braided like a halo around the crown of her head, waves in the water behind her. Vex shuts her eyes and sips her wine, leaning back.

There are things they aren't talking about, things larger than elephants, but their avoidance of such topics was decided in silent agreement. They were going to enjoy their rare moment together, with just the three of the women of Vox Machina relaxing and chatting uninterrupted. It was too good to ruin with talk of dragons, disaster, death, and boys.

Instead, Keyleth and Vex take turns telling Pike all the good parts of what they'd been through since they had last seen her, all the parts they'd left out when they'd told her all of the events that had led up to Percy's death with wet cheeks as they'd recited their every mistake. Keyleth is animated as she gestures their entire adventure even when Vex takes her turn to explain what trouble they'd gotten themselves into without Pike.

“And then I parted the storm and it was _amazing_.” Keyleth's arm raise above her head, water dripping down her arms, in demonstration of the pose she'd held for hours at the helm of the airship while they bypassed an entire storm of black cloud and rain. The corner of Vex's lips raise in smile and Pike nods and listens intently. It's good that what had come after had not diminished Keyleth accomplishing what she'd said had been a childhood dream.

“Aw, man. I'd have loved to seen you do that,” Pike says, a little sadly.

“I'm so sorry, Pike dear, that we forgot that with Gilmore completing the barrier spell to protect Whitestone meant that your part was… well, over.” Vex laughs a bit sheepishly and does not think how much better everything would have been if they'd remembered Pike, that that had been their first mistake all along – the one that might have stopped all the others from ever being made in the first place. She takes another gulp of wine from her glass and upon finishing, she reaches behind her and pours more into her goblet and then into Pike and Keyleth's when they notice her with the bottle and extend their glasses to her to fill.

“I ended up building an entire Temple, because I had nothing else to do,” Pike responds to explain what she'd done with her time while they'd been away, taking a gulp of wine when she gets her glass back. The bottle of shiraz is empty, so Vex opens up the bottle Pike had brought for Keyleth. “And that's pretty much all I did with my time. Nothing nearly so cool as stopping an entire storm at _sea_. You'd be welcome on The Broken Howl anytime with that spell, Keyleth.”

“Well, I'm definitely going to want to try that again, even if I have to deliberately find a storm to do it in. I'll make sure you're around for it, Pike,” Keyleth says with a facespliting grin, taking back her goblet from Vex and accidentally knocking the bottle from Vex's hands with her elbow. The bottle falls into the water and red wine clouds pink in the water.

Leveling a sharp look at Keyleth, Vex gives her a playful shove “Keyleth! The wine!” Vex retrieves the bottle but it is full of as much water as it is wine now, shaking her head in laughter.

“Oops?” Keyleth says with a sheepish smile before shrugging. “Or, no - fuck it! No one's paying for this wine. It'll disappear tomorrow either way and replenish by the next time we get here!” Keyleth hefts herself out of the bath and drops her sodden towel to the side as she returns to the wine closet and brings back an armful of wine bottles, setting them down at the side of the bath and running back to retrieve more.

“I know we're having a fun time here, but I can't recommend any of us drinking that much wine tonight – particularly you Keyleth,” Vex tells her. Pike snorts a laugh and Vex looks to her and says, “Nor you – you've already passed out today from drinking too much.”

“Oh, but that's not fair,” Pike says, “That stuff was _strong_. And I'm already all better!”

Vex squeals when a stream of red pours into the water, only just missing her shoulder. “Keyleth!” Vex looks up just in time to see Keyleth start dumping another bottle of wine in.

“We're having a wine bath, girls!” Keyleth's laughing in excitement, nearly dropping one of the bottles.

Pike joins in Keyleth's laughter, and Vex does too when in her laughter Pike accidentally gulps some water and chokes, still sputtering with laughter. “Well, save at least some of the wine for drinking then… Hey, do you think bathing in wine'll make us drunk?”

“Let's find out!” Keyleth and Pike crow in harmony, Pike raising her fists up in a raucous cheer as Keyleth uncorks two more bottles of wine. Vex rescues three bottles to save for drinking and shrugs before helping Keyleth dump more wine into the bath.

“I suppose we won't have a chance to experience this ever again, if we don't try it now,” Vex giggles.

Pike swims laps, churning the water with her legs to encourage the wine and water to mix. It's a big bath, though, with lots of water – too much for even thirty-four bottles of wine to really make a difference. The water has turned a pallid shade of pink before Keyleth and Vex's arms get too tired from opening bottles.

“Oi, careful,” Vex scolds Keyleth when she's struck by a strange sensation like an egg had cracked over her head.

“Good enough,” says Keyleth, letting the last bottle clatter to the floor which thankfully does not break but rolls away as Keyleth's wet bare feet slap against the ground as Keyleth strides to the deeper end of the hot spring and back flips back into the water. Vex huffs as the water ripples all the way back to splash at her at the shallow end. She leans back against the bath and uncorks one of the bottles she'd set aside ad shrugs before setting her goblet down, drinking straight from the bottle. This wine has more of a buttery taste, which Vex likes. Warmth spreads across her chest as she takes another long drink.

Vex isn't sure how long it takes her to notice that Keyleth hadn't surfaced from her dive, but by the time she does, both she and Pike are both dragged underwater.

Screaming in surprise, Vex expects to feel pain at snorting water, but instead she breathes easy. Keyleth waves to her through the haze of pink, smiling wildly and taking a deep breath in demonstration. It only takes a moment for Vex to realize and Vex shares a look with Pike, who nods back with an impish grin.

The few times Vex had water breathing cast upon her, she hadn't had a chance to enjoy it even when she got to use the abilities. Usually there were time constraints (as she often found herself with, since taking up with Vox Machina), but Vex lets her eyes shut as Keyleth and Pike start play fighting under the water.

It's not like flying, not really – but she does feel weightless, suspended in feverishly-warm rosy water that makes her head fuzzy. It's like being enveloped in a warm blanket. Water fills her lungs inhales but she exhales easily, painlessly.

When Vex opens her eyes as she senses movement in the water to see Pike and Keyleth doing cartwheels and pirouettes and flips in the water. The water muffles their noises into bubbling and burbling water, but she can see from the shape and movement of their mouths that they laughing. Vex sucks in another breath and joins them in their funny sort of underwater dance.

It's easy to lose track of time, in this warm pinkness, but Vex can feel herself getting sluggish after a while. She isn't sure if the water has dropped in temperature or if her own body temperature has raised, but she's starting to lose track of where her body and the water begins. Vex takes a last sigh of water before kicking to the surface to reorient herself.

It burns when Vex breaches the surface of the water and takes a breath of air and she finds herself hacking on both the water and the air. As she sucks in breathes of air, it feels like all the moisture in her had been sucked out of her. Even her eyeballs burn.

“Shit,” Vex curses as she struggles to pull herself up on a ledge and out of the water. Her arms feel too noodly to pull herself up by much though. This has never happened to her after having Water Breathing cast upon her – it's got to be the wine doing this. Her head feels woozy and she tugs at her earring to say between gasps, “Get to the surface right now, you guys. Even if bathing in the wine doesn't make you drunk, breathing it definitely does. Ah, fuck.” Vex hacks up spurts of wine water as both Pike and Keyleth surface from the center of the spring.

“Vex! What's -,” says Keyleth, but she breaks off into choked coughing as she takes a gasp of air. Pike's wide eyed concern morphs as Vex recognizes the awful dried out feeling settles in and Pike starts coughing too.

They doggy paddle to the nearest edge of the pool they can get to, struggling as their lungs continue to burn. Vex tries to help them halfheartedly, but she can't even muster up the strength to pull herself entirely out of the water much less her friends. Luckily Pike and Keyleth manage to help each other out enough to pull both themselves and then Vex completely out of the water.

The three of them spend a long time beached at the edge of hot spring, spitting up pink water, groaning in pain. In addition to breathing in wine making them all dead drunk, the Water Breathing spell did nothing to help them with the drying effects of wine, as well as being submerged in the hot spring too long had them them feverish. They'd also been drowning just a bit, and they keep spitting up pink water. All in all, they were very sick and Vex hardly new up from down.

“Wait,” Pike slurs after a while, flapping her hands around, searching. When her hands clap onto Keyleth's thigh, Pike sighs, “Ah, well leg should be fine.” Vex flinches when bright light illuminates from Pike's hands, shutting her eyes against the sharp light.

“Ngh,” Keyleth groans, pushing herself up and glancing back at Pike blearily. “Oh wow. Good idea.” Keyleth returns the favor to Pike and then both of them cast Greater Restoration on Vex together. Unlike the usual warmth that floods Vex's body upon having Greater Restoration cast on her, she feels relief from the aching fever. Some of her dizziness subsides and she stops feeling like a dried out husk, though Vex still feels a bit drunk but she's hardly going to complain.

“Oh, thank fuck for Greater Restoration,” Vex sighs in relief. “Let's solve all of our problems with Greater Restoration from now on.”

“Greater Restoration for MVP!” Keyleth cheers, before groaning in pain at sound of her own too-loud voice. Pike and Vex snicker, which devolves into all three of them giggling madly.

“Ah fuck, I'm never doing that again,” Keyleth puffs, scooting away from the hot spring. “But it was definitely worth it, for just the once.”

Pike and Vex moan in agreement.

“I don't think that spell was meant for wine-breathing,” Vex says. After it feels like she's more or less belched up all the water that needed to come up, she flips herself over unto her back.

“Y'think?” Pike slurs, cheek against the floor. She giggles after a moment and raises her head to say, “Ah man. Grog would have loved that. Breathing ale.”

Vex smiles and tucks some of Pike's hair behind her ear. They are all sticky with wine and Pike's hair has been dyed a pale pink, barely noticeable but adorable. “Well perhaps we could do it again for Grog, just once. But no telling any of the boys we've already tested it out. Then we can watch them suffer.”

“I made plenty of extra hangover tea, when I made it for Pike earlier,” Keyleth says after remembering the servants and asking one to fetch her her things. “Since I figured we'd need it… I just didn't think we'd need it immediately after getting out of the bath.”

They don't bother with pouring the tea into separate cups and instead pass the wineskin of tea around to each other and taking turns gulps. By the time Pike drains the last few sips, they've more or less regained the rest of their strength that Greater Restoration hadn't, at least enough to stand without having to concentrate too hard on remaining up right and not tipping over.

They traipse up the stairs together, with the intention of invading Scanlan's bedroom to see what sort of extravagant facilities his attached bathroom is sure to have. Unfortunately, among the instructions the servants were given to give them whatever they wanted, must have been the addendum to not allow any of them into Scanlan's bedroom because a good ten or so servants block them from entering.

“Bet it's full of chicken porn anyway,” says Vex. She's a bit surprised, though, that the room doesn't even let Pike in but Pike doesn't seem surprised.

They go to Pike's room instead, taking turns rinsing and scrubbing out the sickly sweet stickiness from parts of their body wine should not be with soothingly cool water. Their hair takes the longest, but eventually they are satisfied.

“I wonder if the kitchen has hot chocolate… I could go for hot chocolate,” Keyleth says several hours later, as they leave the room. “Oooh, maybe with whipped cream and Kahlua! I love whipped cream.”

“Keyleth,” Pike says a bit despairingly as they come down the stairs into the foyer. “No more alcohol! The idea is making me sick.”

At that moment, just as they are heading down into the hall leading to the kitchens, the door knocks. They share a frown and approach the door cautiously. They'd been promised an uninterrupted night, but maybe something was dead wrong. Dread settles into Vex's belly. They aren't prepared to fight if there's a dragon in Whitestone.

Pike opens the rapping door and lets out a soft, “Oh!” as the door reveals an uncertain looking Cassandra in her dressing gown who looks just as surprised to see them as they are to see her.

“I wasn't really sure if he was messing with me or not, but… Scanlan sent me here, to your strange magic door when I said I was look for you three. He said I belonged here and I wasn't quite sure what he meant.” Cassandra takes in a deep, apprehensive breath, as though bracing her for something difficult to say.

“Well, I just want to find you three, to thank you in particular for bringing my brother back,” Cassandra says, her head bowed and hair blocking her face. “Thank you. And thank you for bringing him back in time for me to see him up and on his feet, looking well. I love my brother. I do. But I do not know him or understand him, not as you do or any of Vox Machina have these past few years. I do not have the confidence to think that any of my pleading would have persuaded him to come back, as I'm sure I would have been expected to do had I been present... I do not have the confidence that I would have wanted to see him rise again, not after...” Cassandra's voice falls softer and softer, until she is almost a whisper. “Not after everything I've seen, the past few years. This ritual that you do is different, I know it is, but I have a hard time reconciling it with my experience with the dead becoming not dead.”

“Cassandra,” Keyleth breathes, sympathy plain on her face.

“Of course,” says Pike, reaching and taking Cassandra's hands in her own. “We love him, as you do. We're all so glad to have Percy back with us. And you'll have all the time now, to get to know Percy as he is now and understand him. Perhaps not the same as we know him, but perhaps one that we'll never have chance to know ourselves. You both have another chance, to get to know each other. Second chances are precious and mean no less than the first. Sometimes they mean more, because you know just how much they are worth to have.”

Cassandra nods timidly before pulling away from Pike's grasp. “Thank you again, Pike, Keyleth, Vex… And I apologize for interpreting your bedtime ritual. Goodnight.”

“Cassandra?” Vex says as Cassandra takes a few steps back, head inclined toward them. “Would you like to join us? I mean, we've already bathed – but you're welcome to join us.”

“I – no, that isn't necessary. Thank you.” Cassandra answers, still trying to tiptoe away in escape.

Vex bites her lips and considers letting her go as she so clearly wants, but Scanlan had said that she belonged here, with them, and Cassandra looked so tired and she was Percy's sister and that meant something.

“Please, join us? We're just going to brushing each others hair, girl talk. Strict moratorium on thinking about recent events. Maybe drink hot chocolate and eat something sweet.” Cassandra hesitates, her resolve wavering. Vex adds, “Not just today, but this last month has been a difficult one for all of us. You deserve this as much as we do. We can't lose sight of what we're fighting for, for nights like this.”

“Come on, Cass – can I call you Cass? No? Cassandra. It'll be fun,” Keyleth goads.

Her head shaking, Cassandra says, “No, I'm sorry… I just don't think I'm in the mind set for… girl talk.”

“You _need_ this as much as we do,” Pike says sternly “Sit with us a while. Clerics orders.” Pike leaves no room for argument and it shows on Cassandra's face that she realizes it.

“Perhaps I can stay for an hour or two, though I'd prefer to retire to my own room to sleep,” Cassandra says uncertainly, relenting. Pike smiles, pleased with Cassandra's answer.

“Of course,” Vex says, smiling warmly, as Cassandra steps in through the door and the door clicks behind her. “As I said, we've just come out of the bath, but you're welcome to use one of ours. The hot spring is a bit unusable at the moment though. Can't see why we wouldn't be able to build a new spa, however… Should only take seconds to whip up a new room.”

Cassandra looks baffled, then sighs and decides to accept Vex's words without question. “I've already bathed for the night, thank you.” Sure enough, Cassandra's hair is only barely damp and hanging loose over one shoulder and her skin still dewy.

Twenty minutes later, the four of them are settled in front of the fireplace in the common room with mugs of hot chocolates topped high with whipped cream with plates of cookies, cakes, candied almonds, and steaming hot buttered bread.

“Mm,” Keyleth sighs in contentment, licking stray whipped cream off her thumb. They've tucked themselves in with quilts and pillows on the floor comfortably, though Cassandra doesn't look entirely relaxed, sitting rigidly with her mug in her lap. Vex struggles to find a safe topic to talk about that Cassandra would be able to contribute to in the silence.

“So… Cassandra…,” but she can't think of anything that doesn't have the potential to take a dark turn. “Tried the candied almonds yet? Percy loves them.”

Cassandra blinks and reaches and plucks an almond from the bowl. A smile plays at the corner of her lips, as Cassandra chews. “They're good,” she says. “We used to have them all the time, as children.” There's a far away look in Cassandra's eye as she takes another almond, chewing delicately and savoring the taste, even licking the sugar from her finger tips after each one.

“Hey,” Keyleth says, slurping on her hot chocolate. “Got any embarrassing childhood stories about Percy for us to tease him with?”

The melancholy on Cassandra's face fades and a sly smile curls on her lips. “Many.”

“Tell!” Pike encourages, giggling.

“Well,” says Cassandra. An hour later and several embarrassing Percy stories later, some of which Vex, Keyleth, and Pike provide, Vex's belly is swollen from hot chocolate and sweets.

“Come sit here, Pike,” Vex nudges Pike, indicating the spot between her legs. Pike obliges, not stopping in her laughter about fourteen year old Percy's disappointment at one of his inventions having already been invented by someone else long ago, after working on it for two years.

Pike hums in contentment as Vex begins to comb Pike's hair. The comb passes through her hair easy, still slightly slick from their bath earlier.

“I've already brushed my hair, that isn't necessary,” Cassandra says when Keyleth takes up a brush and looks expectantly at Cassandra.

“Oh,” says Keyleth, looking disappointed as she sets the brush back down.

“It's not just about grooming, Cassandra, letting someone else brush your hair for you,” Pike sighs, as Vex runs the comb through Pike's fair hair again. “It's just something nice to do with someone you trust, about the experience.”

Vex hums in agreement, thinking of her mother who'd brushed both her and her brother's hair when they'd been young and how her brother had taken up the task for her. It was intimate and soothing.

“Keyleth is surprisingly gentle with a brush,” Vex adds.

“Yeah, I - Wait, what's 'surprisingly' supposed to mean?”

Cassandra looks dubiously at Keyleth but finally turns her back to Keyleth. Keyleth claps her hands and takes back the brush, promising to be gentle.

Cassandra sighs when Keyleth strokes her hair with the brush the first time.

Vex grins as she puts the finishing touches on the high pigtail's she's pulled Pike's hair into, tied off with ribbons. Usually Pike lets her bangs hang over her face, covering most of her scar, but Pike doesn't look at all bothered that Vex has pulled all of her hair from her round face and she beams. “You're so cute, Pike!” Vex coos, pulling Pike in close from the shoulders. Pike laugh-snorts and leans into the backwards hug.

“You're cute too, Vex,” Pike says, squealing when Vex blows a raspberry into her cheek. “Now let me do you!”

Pike stands to do Vex's hair, using her fingers to comb through any tangles first.

“You were right,” says Cassandra softly, “This is nice.” Keyleth is using Gust Cantrips to help dry Cassandra's hair, using her fingers to curl Cassandra's usually wavy hair into ringlets. Her streaks of silver hair curl around her youthful tired face and Vex feels a pang of regret for Cassandra's young age.

“We match!” Pike laughs, tightening one of Vex's pigtails one last time, though Vex's hair is set a bit lower than Pike's.

Vex and Pike team up to braid Keyleth's hair into twin braids down the length of her back while Keyleth puts the finishing touches on Cassandra's ringlets.

“You look so pretty,” Vex coos and Cassandra ducks her head in embarrassment.

“I really should be turning in now,” Cassandra says, rising after regaining her composure and this time they don't stop her.

“Night!” Keyleth bides the girl, falling back into the pillows.

“Sleep well, Cassandra. He's back, safe and sound, and everything else is going to go back to normal, soon,” Vex tells her.

“I'm not sure what normal will be any more,” Cassandra responds, “But I look forward to it. I can't take much more of this. Good night, Vox Machina.”

Pike goes to help Cassandra to the door while Vex and Keyleth clear up the plates of food, handing them off to servants to take away and setting up with pillows and blankets to sleep together comfortably.

“I've never had a slumber party with girl friends, before. Staying up late, getting stupid drunk, and eating junk food all night,” says Keyleth with a grin. “This was fun.”

“I haven't either,” Vex agrees, laying back against a pile of pillows. “We should do his again sometime.”

Pike dives into the middle of the cushions when she rejoins them, curling into herself upon impact.

“I'm ready for sleep,” Pike says through a yawn, looking bleary-eyed when her head emerges from the blankets.

They lay back, sleeping in a row with Pike in the middle and the fireplace at their feet. Despite their sleepiness, half an hour passes and the three of them are still awake and Vex takes hold of Pike's hand. She can hear Pike find Keyleth's with her other hand and they breath deeply with their hands clasped.

“Everything'll go back to normal in the morning. We're all still here. Nothing'll change,” Vex decides out loud. She doesn't want anything to change.

She shuts her eyes, fire blazing at her feet and Pike's hand clutched in hers tightly.

“Ok,” Keyleth agrees. “G'night.”

Nothing has to change, it's better this way. Just the eight of them, friends and family.


End file.
